I am always thrilled when I discover a new author or series. I get all giddy inside and I happily add that author to my list of authors on my radar. After reading, Afterlight I’m excited to do the same. Afterlight is a surprisingly entertaining paranormal/urban fantasy story that sucked me in right from the start.Riley Poe is a cool, funky, kick-ass tattoo artist in Savannah, Georgia. The story begins with Riley searching for her brother, Seth. She locates him and his friends in a local cemetery breaking into a crypt known as the hell stone. Riley knows that something evil is released but she is unsure of what it is. When her brother begins to act strange, she knows she needs help from Preacher, an elderly Gullah (an African descendant who is an herbalist and conjurer) and his wife. Riley trusts Preacher and considers him to be her surrogate grandfather.Riley learns that her brother and his friends released two ancient vampires, the Arcos. Soon her brother is missing and she and Preacher seek the help of another vampire clan, the Duprés. It is then, that Eli Dupré (the oldest son) is assigned to protect her and the task is proving to be difficult because Riley’s blood type is rare and all the vampires want a taste it.My first impression of Riley is that she was going to be hard to like. One of the things that I like is that Eli sees through her hard shell. “I think you hide behind your art,” he said evenly, then set my arm down and looked at me.” “Just because you curse, fight like a dude, and ink your skin”―he lifted a forefinger and traced the wing at my eye―”doesn’t mean you don’t need a shoulder.” He rose. “Everyone needs one of those, Riley. Even…us.”Eventually the author reveals Riley’s vulnerable side while keeping that hard kick butt vibe that makes her edgy. Riley has also been through a lot in her life; she lost her mother, escaped an abusive relationship and was heavily into the underground and drugs.Because the story is in first person narration, it is a bit harder to fully connect with Eli. I often hate when authors do this but I’m learning in UF and paranormal this is a growing trend. Eli is very closed off in the beginning but as the story progresses it is becomes more obvious that he is strong and struggles to control his vampire side. When he finally mates with Riley, he becomes completely alpha and protective.The bulk of the book is spent on Riley discovering things in this new world of hers, training and fighting her attraction to Eli so the climatic fight scene at the end is in its proper place, but I wish there were more of them at the beginning of the book to move the action along. That was the only problem I had with Afterlight, the action is slow.I’m actually looking forward to the next book in the series, especially after reading the excerpt in the back. I would recommend this for fans of the paranormal/UF genre.
